Rapids Waive Three

This afternoon the Rapids waived Qunicy Amarikwa, Eddie Ababio, and Ross LaBauex.  This timing isn't a surprise, most players like these three in the league are on semi-guaranteed contracts that become guaranteed on July 1st, which is Sunday.  Cutting them now means the Rapids aren't on the hook for their contracts.

These three being cut aren't that much of a surprise.  We already knew Amarikwa was being "evaluated" and hadn't really featured this season.  Eddie Ababio didn't seem to be in Gary Smith's plans last year or Papi's this year.  LaBauex had gotten the most playing time but plays a position very similar to what new homegrown signing Shane O'Neil plays so is somewhat redundant at this point.

Scott Palguta didn't get cut, which I chalk up to only having three other center backs on the roster besides Ababio and Palguta, and Palguta seemed to be the more favored of the two of them.  The only other name I thought might be at risk was Joseph Nane.

News and Notes, 4/15

The Rapids played FSL in a reserve match yesterday before coming back to Denver. I'm not planning on doing regular coverage of the reserves but, as in this case, if there's any interesting news I'll make sure to note it.

• Before the game Colorado announced the signing of first-round pick defender Eddie Ababio, who then started the reserve game. This gives us one remaining open roster spot.
• The Rapids also brought academy players James Rogers and Ricardo Perez, both of which got about 10-15 minutes at the end of the game
• The reserves did lose 2-0

Quincy Amarikwa's injury that took him out of the game Wednesday night turned out to be high ankle sprain which has placed him in the injury list indefinitely.

Conor Casey and Pablo Mastroeni have both been upgraded on the injury report. If we played this weekend there's a good chance Pablo could play while Casey would be 50/50. Luckily they both have another week to recover before our home game with Seattle.

Rapids Release Eddie Ababio

The Rapids just tweeted that first-round pick defender Eddie Ababio has been released. He was offered a contract at the same time as Steven Emory and Michael Holody. Given that I'm guessing that Ababio thought he was worth more than the Rapids were offering and declined to sign the contract, and the Rapids declined to increase their offer. Colorado retains their claim to him until next year's draft, at which point he'd be free to sign with any MLS team without compensation to the Rapids.

Game preview coming later tonight!

Roster Update

The Rapids have given an update on the status of the 8 trialists that traveled with the team to Arizona. First-round draft pick Eddie Ababio, Metro State trialist Steven Emory, and former Rapids player Michael Holody have all been offered contracts. The team has also started negotiations with Irish international Caleb Folan. Andy Lorei, Adrian Leroy, JT Murray, and Logan Emory have completed their trials and left the club.

That gives us 23 rostered players, 3 players with contract offers, and 1 player in contract negotiations. With a roster limit of 30 that gives us room for at least 3 more players. Here's the breakdown right now:

Under Contract:

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Sanna Nyassi

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Offered Contract Or In Negotiations:

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Michael Holody

Midfielders:

Steven Emory

Forwards:

Caleb Folan

2011 SuperDraft

I'll do what I can to keep the this entry updated with any Rapids-related draft news, as my job allows. At the moment I'm waiting for the developers to fix the build so I can actually log into the product so I have some time. ;) The Rapids pick 18th and 36th, barring trades.

With the #18 pick the Rapids selected Eddie Ababio

He's a defender out of North Carolina that plays right back and center back.

Defender was an obvious choice for the Rapids, but I'm a little surprised they didn't go with the last remaining Generation Adidas player, Michael Tetteh, who's a defender. He wouldn't have counted towards the cap. Seattle took him 2 picks later. Ababio seems like a stretch based on the reports and the mock drafts out there. John Rooney (Wayne's brother) was also still available, and that would have generated some PR. Still the coaches have actually seen these guys play and I'm just going off some stuff I've read, so I'll trust they've made the right choice.

With their second (and final) pick the Rapids take Colin Givens.

Givens is a defender out of Michigan State. Colorado was obviously focusing on defensive depth in this draft.

Barring a trade in the 3rd round the Rapids (and me) are done for the day. They'll have a 2nd and 3rd round pick in next week's Supplemental Draft.